Albert Gallatin High School
Parents of suspended student speak out The parents of an Albert Gallatin High School senior suspended for three days after school officials found three hunting arrows in a car she had driven to school that day asked that the suspension resulting from the incident be expunged from her record. Adolph Cook of Lake Lynn approached the school board Wednesday, asking why the district held his daughter, Jessica Cook, responsible for an incident that occurred as result of his decision.
Adolph Cook had gone hunting the night before his daughter drove the car to school. He had removed from the car his hunting bow, but not the arrows, which he said were equipped with practice tips that can puncture Styrofoam, but not much else.
“If my daughter hunted or shot a bow and arrow in her life, I could understand this, but she has not,” Adolph Cook said. “I would like my daughter to get her days back. This is uncalled for+ In this country, you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but she was guilty until proven innocent. +If this is policy, it may need changed.”
Jessica Cook said the suspension could affect her acceptance into a college that could launch a forensic science career with the FBI. Cook said she is an advanced placement and honors class student who is involved in many school activities, including National Honor Society, band and choir.
Rose Cook, Jessica’s mother, said her daughter has never been suspended nor called to the principal’s office throughout her 13 years of schooling in the Albert Gallatin School District.
“She’s a good kid. She’s a model student and you have the audacity to do this to her,” Rose Cook said.
She also expressed frustration as to why she didn’t receive a call from the school the day of the incident. Her daughter, suffering from panic that nearly causing an asthma attack, delivered the first phone call informing her of the incident, she said.
“(School officials) knew the arrows weren’t hers,” Rose Cook said, noting the hunting weapons were locked in a car in the school parking lot that security patrols. “I just wanted to know what happened to common sense.”
Solicitor Tony Sanchez said district administration exercised discretion in assigning the suspension, noting that Pennsylvania School Code, crafted by the state legislature, requires a district to suspend a student for one year for bringing a weapon onto school property. District officials assigned Jessica Cook a three-day suspension.
“The school district makes that choice,” Sanchez said.
The incident occurred in October. Carl Bezjak was acting superintendent at the time.
Asked after the meeting if the district would revisit the issue, Superintendent Walter Vicinelly said he and Bezjak, now assistant superintendent, reviewed information related to the incident and, as a result, feels district administration acted “according to policy and in a fair and reasonable manner.”
Board members did not publicly comment on the matter. Sanchez told Jessica Cook that federal law prohibits the board from talking about student matters.